gold-star night
by starinhercorner
Summary: Prompt: "Dick Grayson, 'Man'icures or the time Robin/Nightwing crashed the girls' sleepover" @ kidiots's LiveJournal ficathon


**Author's Notes: Cassie sorta stole the show on this one. Also, the full list of characters includes the four I could tag + M'gann + Artemis + Zatanna**

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Cassie doesn't care that all the other girls are in their 20's-she's been daydreaming of pajama parties with her female teammates even before she snagged an official spot among their ranks. She'll claim those visions as prophetic now, please and thank, because _Batgirl_ of all people (Barbara, right, she's allowed to call them by their normal names) presently has locks of her hair wrapped in a curling iron, and Bumblebee-Karen! Karen!-is cracking open a small treasure trove of nail polish. "A little flashback from high school... except about a _hundred_ percent more green," Karen states, rolling her eyes over to M'gann; and M'gann's nose is probably deeper in the teen girl magazines than Cassie would have ever predicted, but she still looks up and giggles. The collection in the box is some kind of psychedelic rainbow of hot pink and neon green and toxic-warning-label yellow plus _glitter_, in silver and gold and purple and teal-and some of the stickers on them say they're _scented_? This is the best night of her life. Barbara asks if she really _wants_ a burn on the back of her neck that badly, and Cassie is stumped into silence before realizing that it means she needs to hold still. She does as such. Zatanna snickers under her breath about something Cassie doesn't catch (she never dreamed she'd be camped out in a living room with _Leaguers_, well, _Leaguer_, since Rocket couldn't find a babysitter in time; and she's already made Zatanna promise not to tell Wonder Woman that she sleeps in a cami with her face on it), and Artemis (_the_ Artemis!) elbows Zatanna in the arm. M'gann must hear it, though, because her face turns bright red. Bright enough for Cassie to see out of the corner of her eye, of course. After all, she's still holding still.

The movie sound effects thwak and crunch from the tiny netbook Artemis and Zatanna are sharing. Bruce Lee shouts, Zatanna yawns, and Artemis half-teases that _yes_, they can watch Harry Potter next. Cassie's head holds a bouncing mane of "warrior curls," and Barbara talks with a mouth full of bobby pins as she promises Cassie she knows just what headband will be perfect for this. M'gann looks ready for the red carpet from the neck up herself (aside from the green, but the duo of her and Beast Boy has made Cassie almost forget that's weird) because she's arranged herself as such, up-do and eyeshadow matching that of the red-headed starlet's on the magazine cover to a T. Karen wiggles and admires the black and yellow fingernails on one hand as M'gann paints stripes onto the other with her mind, adding an "H" for what she and Karen call "old times' sake." Girl Time goes by swimmingly, and shows all signs of carrying on well into the morning; until a certain someone pulls what Artemis dubs, and what Cassie will never, ever refer as such out loud, "a dick move."

Nightwing wanders in at around 1 am in sunglasses, a white t-shirt, and navy shorts, pushing hair out of his face and headed for the fridge. There's the beginning of "hey" and "hi" and "'sup" behind her, but Cassie drowns it all out by doing her best imitation of the Canary Cry and scrambling for a pillow with which to hide her chest. M'gann jerks at the reaction, and Karen ends up with a wide streak of bright yellow down the back of her hand. Artemis drops the Harry Potter disc, and Zatanna, possibly _magically_ unfazed by the sound of females freaking out at the sight of Nightwing, tells her to watch the merchandise. Barbara is much the same, and wrings out Cassie's shoulders as Cassie bites into a pillow, promising her that _no one_ is going to spill the beans to Wonder Woman about the shirt. Nightwing's hand is inches from the refridgerator door, and he waves at the girls before reaching in and pulling out a carton of milk.

"_Puc!_" Zatanna snaps loudly before Nightwing can get the opening of the carton anywhere near his mouth, and a plastic cup drifts into his hand from the cupboard. M'gann nods emphatically, a fierce look in her eye. "Ugh, you're as bad as Wally," Artemis says before blowing on both sides of the disc and popping it in; and there's a heavy flapping of owl wings over haunting piano chords before Cassie is ready to let her shoulders relax.

"H-Hi, Boss, we're having a, a sleepover." This fact is more than obvious, it's obviously obvious, and Cassie immediately groans and throws her head back. Barbara pushes it right back up without a word, and plants a headband cleanly behind Cassie's ears. Something about having a head glinting with rhinestones soothes her.

"Oh yeah?" Nightwing ambles over to an empty sofa, cup in hand. M'gann glances up from her task of scrubbing Karen's skin with a cotton ball soaked in nail polish remover and floats a coaster to the edge of the table. "Having fun?"

"Yeah!" Cassie replies, a bit amazed at the girls for so casually accepting a guy walking in on them (it must an adult thing), and a bit amazed at herself for so quickly picking up the mindset.

"Good. 'Cause I want in."

The headband pops out of place on Cassie's head. Barbara pushes it down before she can think or speak.

"Do you promise to be on your best-_professional_-behavior, Mr. Team Leader?" Barbara asks, leaning over Cassie's shoulder to do so. "We _are_ your colleagues, after all."

_Colleagues_, whoa. Cassie's heart jumps a little at that.

"I solemnly swear to be on my best professional behavior." Nightwing puts his right hand to his chest and raises his left in the air. "Ex-Robin's honor."

"Good." Barbara gives Cassie a little pat and shake on the shoulder, and Cassie feels comfortable enough to start eyeing the nail polish again. She's liking the looks of that deep red in the corner. She decides that she'll show up to training painted in the blood of her enemies. Wonder Woman will like that. Barbara's voice snaps her out of that fantasy. "And before you even ask, _no_. You are not getting any scantily-clad pillow fights out of us."

"We're not pillow-fighting?" M'gann chirps up as she wipes the excess yellow off her brush and onto the rim of its container, taking it into her hands now to be more careful. Karen holds up her hand and flexes her fingers close enough to M'gann's face for the wetness of the laquer to be made crystal clear. "Oh. Right." She and Artemis share a brief dejected look. Zatanna clicks the volume on her movie up a few notches higher. She's in her own little world now.

"I'm sure there's some good-natured activity we can all enjoy," Nightwing says before gulping down the rest of his milk. It leaves a row of white droplets across his upper lip. It's Cassie that whispers to Barbara that none of them should tell him, and a smirk spreads gracefully across Barbara's face as she whispers back, "_You're learning_."

"We could paint your nails," M'gann offers as she finishes off the black on Karen's right pinkie. Karen snorts. Artemis and Barbara chuckle softly. Then suddenly there's silence, even in the DVD. Nightwing looks at Barbara, and Barbara looks at M'gann. M'gann shrugs. Cassie's hands ball into fists. She grins so hard that her chapped lower lip cracks.

"Yeeeeeeeeees" hisses out from between her teeth like a balloon leaking air.

They pull Zatanna away from Hogwarts long enough for her nails to get coated in glittery silver, and with a few well-placed words she amplifies their sparkle. Artemis dodges eye contact with everyone present through the duration of the time it takes for her left hand to be painted yellow and red, a request made only after her right was forest green, and _oh_, _does M'gann take her time_. M'gann spooks them all at one point by growing a nail two feet long in an instant; and when Karen twist the vial shut and tells M'gann that _no way_, she can go buy her own, this stuff is _too expensive_ for that kind of crazy, they all laugh. Soon enough, though, the two ex-cheerleaders are hi-fiving with their old squad colors on their hands in matching patterns. Barbara lets Cassie paint her nails a muted teal, and forgives the sticky mess Cassie makes of her cuticles. Barbara handles Nightwing's fingers with less-than-subtle familiarity the whole time, in a way that makes Zatanna snort and Artemis wolf-whistle. Cassie thinks she sees Barbara's face start to turn pink, and she almost gasps in a way that would break the whole moment. Nightwing ends up sporting black nail polish on three fingers and robin's egg blue on two, his middle and ring fingers. The label claims that the polish is blueberry-scented, but Cassie watches him sniff his nails and start hacking, in the coughing sense; and it's a sight like watching a sunrise over a mountain on Themyscira,_ amazing_. She falls asleep between Barbara and Karen and dreams with her legs kicking, with shining red paint on all her fingers and gold stars on her pinkies.


End file.
